Opinion: Opinions in Review
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The Times’ Opinion Manufacturing Division continues its quest to generate a healthy dosage of opinions for those out in cyberspace to mull over. Here’s a roundup of the latest sites that took notice of our outlooks on various issues, from an unnecessary charter amendment to a form of advertising that gives a whole new meaning to the Mile High Club.
Measure B--which would require the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to install 400 megawatts’ worth of solar panels on land and rooftops within the city by 2014-- seems to be generating more buzz than Manny Ramirez’ new deal with the Dodgers. Sort of. Greentech Media’s Ucilia Wang mentions our editorial that urged Angelenos to vote no on the measure (though, her wordage states that we ‘urged voters not to say no to Measure B’). Uprisingradio.org‘s post on the measure also notes our opposition to the charter amendment. Our opposition even caught the attention of college students! The Occidental Weekly--the official newspaper of Occidental College--article on the measure, gives a shout out to our endorsement to vote no and includes excerpts from our editorial. From college students to cowboys? It seems LA Cowboy’s Brady Westwater was in agreement with our opposition. The fate of the measure is still unknown, with thousands of ballots still uncounted.
In other political news, the latest saga in the Prop. 8 battle has stirred debate. Over at Straight Talk on Marriage, Heather Jensen linked to an Op-Ed by Nicholas Goldberg, deputy editor of Editorial Pages, which provided an overview of the arguments facing the California Supreme Court over the final fate of Prop. 8. Rod 2.0 continues the Prop. 8 discussion and includes a snippet from The Times’ editorial on the matter, which acknowledges the process to overturn Prop. 8 will be an arduous fight given the ease in which the California constitution is amended by popular vote. Over at The Raw Story, there’s an article by David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster on Kenneth Star’s support for Prop. 8, and his argument that a simple majority vote is enough to remove any right from a minority group. The story links one of the many blog posts by editorial writer Karin Klein on Starr’s disturbing argument.
If Starr’s return to the spotlight hasn’t sparked enough criticism, the media need only look to Rush Limbaugh for a reason to opine. Open Left’s ‘tremayne’ wrote a post that noted editorial writer Michael McGough’s coy suggestion that the radio personality run for Congress if he wants Obama to fail; only ‘tremayne’ took it one step further, suggesting the Limbaugh instead make a bid for the oval office in 2012. Oh, the horror.
But that’s the least of our worries. Over at Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, Steve Rendall is under the impression that the Times’ editorial board has a season pass to Disneyland. No, wait ... that’s Fantasyland! He took issue with our editorial that urged Obama to press for passage of the U.S.- Colombia Free Trade Agreement, claiming we head into ‘War is Peace’ territory.
And, hey, we admit it; sometimes we’re a little slow in forming our opinions. And Standard Upright Position isn’t afraid to point that out. ‘Anne’ was a bit perplexed by Patt Morrison’s apparent delayed reaction to Southwest Airlines decision to adorn one of its planes with an illustration of a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model. But delays should be expected when the airline industry is involved, right? So give Patt a break!
Photo: Don Kelsen / LAT